Telgars
by w1nter
Summary: Based on 'Dragonsdawn'. Sallah does not die! This is what I think should have happened in 'Dragonsdawn' - because no-one wanted Sallah killed off. :D Please read and review! COMPLETE.
1. Agony

**Telgars**

_**DISCLAIMER: **Anne McCaffrey owns Pern, Dragonsdawn, the whole Dragonriders of Pern series and all related awesomeness - sadly, t'is not I... *sobs* No money is being made from this fanfic._

_**Author's Note: **__This fanfic is based on the book _Dragonsdawn_ by Anne McCaffrey. If you haven't read it already I recommend that you do, regardless of whether you then go on and read this fic afterwards or not. :D But it might not make as much sense as it should if you haven't read it. You've been warned! ^-^_

_Chapter One - Agony_

If anyone, on any planet, had ever died by being torn apart from inside by millions of tiny white-hot needles, Tarvi Andiyar knew now how they must have felt.

Eating at his insides was the knowledge that Sallah, his beloved wife Sallah, was dead. Gone. Mother to his four children, Ram Da, Dena, Ben and little Cara... gone. Just gone. Her body now suspended in space, alone in death, as she had not been in life. He had loved her, always, but did she even know it? Her final words, the question, "You – loved – me?" cut Tarvi more deeply than any physical wound could ever go. Gone! Agony.

Kneeling on the floor with his head in his hands, he cried out his anguish for all to hear. "Sallah! Sallah! Sal-lah! Sallah, Sallah..." He could not stop saying her name over and over, as if that in itself would bring his wife back to him alive.

Tears streamed down his cheeks from wide, blank eyes, not seeing anything, and he did not notice when Ezra Keroon came up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Sallah, Sallah, Sallah, my Sallah..."

Only when he was bodily shaken and nearly pushed face-first into the floor did he realise that someone was present by his side.

"Tarvi, man, it's all hit us hard, but..." Tarvi stared at Ezra's drawn face, still silently mouthing his wife's name over and over again. "You need to get yourself cleaned up. Go to Basil in the infirmary and he'll give you something. Can you do that?"

"Sallah, Sallah..."

"I think I'll take you myself." Getting up, Ezra pulled on Tarvi's arm until he was standing too, and said to Paul Benden, "I'll take Tarvi to Basil. You'll manage without me?" The Admiral nodded, and with that the two men left the room, Tarvi shuffling along behind Ezra like a sleepwalking zombie.

* * *

Meanwhile, thousands of klicks above in the _Yokohama_, Sallah Telgar-Andiyar was struggling to breathe.

_Tarvi loves me_, she thought. _He has, all along. And I never... found out, until now. And I'm dying. I'll never see his face again, or my children... and there's no way of saving myself. I'm in an empty shell of a ship, alone, running out of oxygen, running out of blood... It can hardly get much worse, can it?_

Suddenly her eyes widened.

_Maybe, just maybe... or am I not thinking straight? I could..._

Her hands fumbled over the controls, and as she did so she could see the blood drifting out of her left glove. There was a lot of it. _I don't have much time_, she thought. _Not much time at all. If I can override the system and electronically turn the oxygen pumps back on... maybe... Blast! I have to think... remember the codes... Only Benden knows the password. With Landing's help I might survive long enough for them to think of something._

It was a small hope, but it was all she had. She turned the com unit back on, and tried to gather enough air to speak. The oxygen was really thin in the air, but if she got lucky it wouldn't be for much longer.

"_Yokohama_ to Landing," she rasped.

* * *

Ezra looked down sadly at Tarvi, his gaunt, tear-stained face pale as he lay unconscious on a bed in the infirmary.

"I've given him some mild sedatives; he needs to rest, without having to think about anything," Basil, the medic, told Ezra. "He'll stay out for another couple of hours or a bit less, what with the state he's in."

Ezra nodded in reply. "The poor man."

"Yeah... and so many are losing loved ones these days," said Basil. "Everything's gone to shit since that first Threadfall. And it's me who gets to deal with all the dead and injured. It's no good, Ez, no good, for Pern or for anyone on it. Takes its toll on a man, it does."

"You've done such a good job, Basil. To be commended, honestly," said Ezra. "But I'd best be going now. They'll need me up at the interface. We could grab a drink later, if you like. Might cheer us up a bit, what do you say?"

"Thanks, Ez, but I get the feeling we'll be busy a while longer with this whole mess. I'll hold you to it, though," Basil said with a slight smile.

"All right then, Basil," Ezra replied, sounding more than just a little worn out, as he started to leave the infirmary. "Catch you around."

But then he poked his bald head around the doorframe and added, "And... thanks, Bas. For all your hard work. It's good to know we have someone that we can count on in times like these."

Basil smiled again. "Good to hear, Ez, good to hear."

Ezra nodded his goodbye, and began to make his way back to the interface chamber. As he got into the corridor, Emily Boll nearly ran straight into him.

"Have you seen Paul?" she gasped.

"The Admiral? He was at the interface with you when I left," stated Ezra blankly. "Why?"

"We're trying to save Sallah! Only he knows the override password for the Bridge control unit. We _must_ find him now or it'll be too late!" Before Ezra could ask any more questions, she dashed down the hallway and into the infirmary. She could be heard hurriedly saying something to Basil, then she rushed out again with the medic hot on her heels.

"Ezra! Check the men's room for Paul!" she called out as she went past.

"You were right, mate," said Basil as he passed the bald man. "We'll need drinks after this."

And then Ezra Keroon was alone in the corridor, feeling extremely confused and slightly overwhelmed as he jogged to the men's toilets.

* * *

_**Author's note: **(yes, another one)… This has been in the pipeline for a while now, so it's about time it saw the light of day… figuratively. I'd love to hear what you think of Telgars! So please read and review! :D_


	2. Of Air and Atmosphere

_Chapter Two – Of Air and Atmosphere_

_**DISCLAIMER: **Anne McCaffrey owns Pern, Dragonsdawn and everything else awesome to do with the Dragonriders of Pern... They call it Fan Fiction for a reason - that reason being that it is FICTION by certain nutty FANS, e.g. Yours Truly. I don't own any of it! X( Special thanks go out to _Brownriderco _for being awesome and helpful, and reviewing!!_

_*_

Paul Benden was midway through the act of doing up his fly when Ezra burst into the men's bathrooms and shouted at the door of his cubicle, "Admiral Benden! Is that you in there?"

Somewhat startled, Paul opened the door of the cubicle and went to wash his hands. "My, my, Mr Keroon, did you need to go that badly?"

"No, no, they need you at the interface! Emily said something about trying to save Sallah – something about only you knowing the password to the Bridge's override…Does that make any sense to you at all?"

"Wha– ? No. You're not making sense."

"Well, come back to the interface, quickly, I don't understand it either but Emily said that if we're not fast it will be too late. Then she got Basil and ran off again. I – "

"Ezra, whatever it is, it's clearly important, and the sooner we get there, the sooner we'll find out whatinhell's going on! In short, stop your fekking about and let's go!"

They rushed down the corridor and into the interface chamber, where Emily was pacing back and forth across the floor and Basil was sitting by the interface, relaying first aid instructions to Sallah.

Emily immediately looked up when she saw Paul and Ezra enter. "Could _someone_ please expl– " Paul started, but Emily cut him off almost before he had started his question.

"No time for that, I'll explain after! Sit there and tell Sallah the override password for the Bridge control unit." She grabbed his sleeve and bodily dragged him across the room to the interface as she was talking.

Basil fairly threw himself from the chair in his haste to make room for Paul. He said earnestly, "She's in a bad way, Admiral. If she doesn't get more oxygen soon she'll pass out – and she's lost far too much blood."

Paul sat down at the interface. "Landing to _Yokohama_."

"Admiral," said Sallah, her voice sounding cracked and strained.

"Have you accessed the control screen?" Paul asked in a clear voice. Behind him he heard Emily talking to Ezra, and he tried to drone out their buzzing so that he could concentrate on the job at hand.

"Yes," rasped Sallah. "Just tell me what I need to do."

"All you have to do is enter the password. It's…" he hesitated for a split second. "Sir Fluffy Pants."

A couple of seconds silence. Then, "Admiral? Did I hear you correctly? Or am I becoming delirious?" came Sallah's strained voice from the interface. Paul could hear Emily and Ezra trying to muffle chuckles.

Going slightly red about the ears, he said, "Just type it in, Sallah, with a hyphen between each word."

"Okay," Sallah wheezed, "But we'll want to hear the story behind that la– ah! It's worked! I'm typing the command now."

"Sallah, how are you feeling? Has the bleeding stopped?" asked Basil, leaning in. He seemed to think that her time was almost up. "This would be so much easier if you had visuals!"

"Oh I'm fine… better than I was before, anyway. And actually, I do have visuals," Sallah conceded thickly. They could all hear the laboured rasping of her breathing and the tapping of her fingers on the keypad. "But I don't want – oh, yes! It's worked! _Oxygen pumps activated_, it says!"

A great cheer went up around the interface chamber.

* * *

Sallah heard the cheer from Landing over the com unit and she grinned weakly in relief. Already she could feel the oxygen being pumped into the room, into her starved lungs, and trickling through her depleted bloodstream.

"Basil, how much longer so you think I'll last, in my present state?" she asked.

"You sound stronger already, Sallah!" he answered, sounding relieved. "I'd say... at least another couple of hours, if the bleeding has stopped."

"It has," she was quick to assure him. "But will two hours or so be enough?"

"Enough for what?"

"Well, I can't exactly teleport back to Pern," she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "I'm no Slitheen."

"Oh."

* * *

There was a moment of ringing silence in the interface chamber. Then everyone started talking at once. This went on for several minutes, but finally Emily yelled, "_Quiet!_" and both men shut their mouths. "Call Stev Kimmer," she added in a much more moderate tone. "I have an idea."

Kimmer was sent for, and Emily explained. "The _Mariposa_ was destroyed along with Avril, we all know that, and there are no shuttles left. There are no vessels that can be immediately launched into the atmosphere to rescue Sallah, correct?"

The men nodded mutely.

She continued, "It would take weeks to build a proper space shuttle, even if we actually had the parts. But –" and here she raised a forefinger, with a glint in her eye. "Most normal, land- and air-based sleds – the ones we use to burn Thread from the skies – are in fact built with full-strength, atmospheric outer shields, capable of resisting damage when plunging through atmosphere and outer space."

One could almost hear the thud as Paul and Ezra's bottom jaws hit the floor.

Sallah's voice came over the interface. "I can see where you're going with this, Governor, but it's not foolproof. So much could go wrong –"

"Sallah, it's the best hope we've got. If you can think of anything better or safer, feel free to speak out." Emily almost sounded like she wished Sallah would come up with a better plan, but only silence came from the interface.

"Pardon me for saying so, Governor Boll, but howinhell did you think of that?" came a voice from behind them. Stev Kimmer was leaning against the doorframe. He shrank back as she gave him a withering glare. "Right then, right then – assuming I can find the right personnel and the right sleds for parts – you realise that if I can't find one without a _completely_ intact atmospheric shield, we're stuffed – but –"

Emily was tapping her toe against the ground, and the look on her face clearly said _get on with it_.

Kimmer hurried to finish his sentence. "The point is – if I can get what's necessary, I can do it."

Paul barked out, "How long will it take you? Including all your rambling on?"

Kimmer looked slightly offended, but had better sense than to confront Admiral Benden. "I can have an adapted sled ready in... about forty-five minutes, give or take."

Paul, Emily and Ezra exchanged glances.

"So get to it!" Emily barked. "You'll have all the resources you need, if we can get them. Go!"

Kimmer scurried off to do as he was told. Emily smiled.

* * *

The infirmary ward had been devoid of conscious life for several hours. When Tarvi awoke, slightly groggy from his induced slumber, he had no idea where he was or what had happened. But only briefly. He stared, unseeing, at the ceiling, and let the tears flow down his face.

* * *

_**Author's note: **__Thank you SO much to the people who reviewed, subscribed or even just read _Telgars_! I send you all cookies with my mind!! I hope I've fulfilled your expectations with chapter two… Please review, it helps me be motivated to get the chapters up just that little bit faster. Tell me what you think of my story – anything and everything. And again, thanks all, you guys are awesome! :D_


	3. Flames and Fire

_Chapter Three – Flames and Fire_

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own any of the stuff I'm writing about. Dammit. ;D_

*

Some time later, Tarvi sat up in the infirmary bed. He felt numb. Looking outside, he saw that it was nearly dark. Someone would be lighting the Landing bonfire soon.

He stood and plodded slowly outside.

The air was cool on his tear-wet cheeks, and he looked up at the stars that had always seemed so beautiful before, but now had lost their brilliance in his eyes. As he came to Bonfire Square, he saw that the bonfire was still unlit, and people were staring at him.

_I must look like a wreck_, he thought dimly. _That's how I feel. But it doesn't matter. Nothing much matters anymore._

A very concerned Mairi Hanrahan came and asked him what was wrong, but for some time he just couldn't say anything. Finally he managed to explain in short, clipped sentences that Sallah and Avril... were dead. Without pausing to hear her reply, he asked whether someone had been chosen to light the bonfire yet.

"Well, no... With all the fuss over Kenjo and Ongola I'd wager no-one's even thought about it. Why?" Mairi seemed shell-shocked upon hearing of Sallah's death.

"If... if there's no-one to light the fire, consider me. I have something... that I want to do. An... announcement." Tarvi's face betrayed no emotion, as though he had been sucked dry of all feeling. On the inside, though, he was aflame with grief.

Soon there was the usual large crowd gathered in Bonfire Square – in all likelihood the whole population of Landing had turned up. The word had spread like wildfire – by now everyone knew that Sallah and Avril were dead, if not how. No-one dared to go up to Tarvi to ask him; he looked as gaunt and pained as though the Devil himself had taken him down to Hell and tortured him personally – not that anyone believed in the Devil anymore, that was Old Earth religion, left far behind long ago. Rumours abounded, but such was Tarvi's state that not even the worst of the gossipmongers would go to ask him for the truth.

No Admiral Benden, Governor Boll, nor any other official leader could be found in the crowd, to give proper consent for Tarvi to light the bonfire, but the general consensus of all the people gathered was that he should be the one to do it.

Mairi Hanrahan tentatively approached Tarvi and explained that although the Admiral and the Governor were not present, it had been agreed that he should light the bonfire.

"They're probably busy with something official or important, always are," Tarvi muttered to himself. In a slightly clearer, but no less expressionless voice he told Mairi, "Thank you."

She disappeared back into the crowd with a nod, probably to look after Cara, Tarvi thought numbly. _My children_, he realised in a flood of anguish. _My motherless children. I didn't deserve them, I was never good enough. I will never be good enough. _The tears started flowing again.

Looking at the people gathered in the square around him, his vision blurred by his tears, Tarvi lit the brand. It flared up immediately, illuminating his haggard face.

He raised the brand above his head and shouted hoarsely, "From now on, I am not Tarvi, nor Andiyar. Not anymore. From now on I am Telgar, so that she will be remembered, so that at least her name will live on."He sucked in a deep breath of air. "She gave her life for us today, and we will all remember that. _What is my name?_" His voice was cracked with grief, but there wasn't a soul in Bonfire Square who didn't hear him. "_What is my name?_" he repeated.

"Telgar!" a deep voice in the crowd boomed out.

"Telgar!" someone else called.

"Telgar!" a woman shouted.

"Telgar! Telgar!" cried a child.

Then everyone was shouting, calling, screaming, joining in until the name echoed around Bonfire Square, nearly three thousand voices melded as one.

Tarvi looked around him, his sight impaired more than ever by tears, and screamed out one more time, "Telgar!" Then he thrust the burning torch into the pile of dry wood and bracken, and the flames flared up.

As he stood, head down, grieving for all he had lost, the name crescendoed around him. "Telgar! _Telgar_! Telgar Telgar _Telgar Telgar Telgar_!"

* * *

In the meantime, on the other side of Landing, the grid was abuzz with activity. Kimmer, Paul, Ezra and Emily, along with several random members of staff and some donks, rushed around madly as they tried to create a fully operational space shuttle out of Landing's sleds.

Having found – with some difficulty – a sled with an entirely intact atmospheric shield, the last-minute alterations and checks were now taking place.

"Kimmer!" barked Emily Boll. "Progress report!"

"Give us another five minutes. Everything's in place and I've nearly run all the tests."

"Ezra!" she called. "How're we for time?"

"Kimmer said he'd have it done in forty-five minutes, but we're at fifty already."

Cussing, Emily turned to Paul. "How's Sallah? What does Basil say?"

Paul groped for the two-way handheld com at his belt. "Basil, update. How is Sallah?"

Basil's slightly static-y voice came from the com. "She's holding up, but I hope you've got that thing ready to launch. She won't last much more than another hour and a bit."

"Soon," said Paul. "Kimmer's behind schedule."

Suddenly Kimmer came running up to them. "Ready for launch," he said. "Who's flying her?"

Emily was speaking rapidly to Kimmer. "Go to the interface chamber and prepare for launch. Admiral Benden will be flying her, and I'm co-pilot. Launch in three minutes!" And she strode off.

Within the minute, Paul was strapped in with Emily beside him in the co-pilot seat. Ezra and Stev Kimmer were with Basil in the interface chamber, in contact with both Sallah and the sled-shuttle via the interface.

Emily's voice came through, "Are we ready? All systems go."

Ezra said, "Admiral, Governor, are you sure this is a good idea? Having both of you doing this? It _is_ very high risk – there's no guaranteeing this will actually work, and we wouldn't want to lose our only leaders during this – Threadfall or whatever it really is. Are you positive you want to do this? That there's absolutely no-one else for the job?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Keroon. We're the best qualified for this, so we'll do it. We'll be fine," said Emily stoutly.

Paul added, "Just a quick in-and-out mission. We've been through worse."

"Well," said Ezra. "Best of luck, then."

"Thank you, Ezra," Emily said as the sled-shuttle started moving, picking up speed quickly. Under her breath, she muttered, "We might just need it."

The retro rockets and boosters of the sled-shuttle fired as it shot upwards, illuminating the grid with a burst of flames.

* * *

_**Author's note: **__Phew, that was a long chapter, and it took forever to get written and put up. Sorry. Been really busy with everything – excuses range from my birthday to music workshops to writer's block to the Great USB Death of June 2009. Hehehe. Cheers to everyone who's been reading, and as always, please R&R! :D_


	4. Gone and Not Gone

_Chapter Four – Gone and Not Gone_

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own any of it. Enough said. :)_

*

Both Admiral Paul Benden and Governor Emily Boll felt the first judders of atmosphere as they shot further and further away from Pern in the small sled-shuttle.

"This thing truly is tiny in comparison with the original shuttles," muttered Emily to Paul.

"Yet handling well, don't you think?" he replied tightly as the sled-shuttle shook again.

Doing her best to sound nonchalant, Emily asked, "Are you sure she's meant to be shaking quite this much?"

"All shuttles tremble a bit in the atmosphere; you know that, Emily," Paul said, his concentration firmly fixed on the task at hand.

"It seemed like a slightly better plan before we started implementing it," she said. "All readings stable."

"As they should be," spoke Paul grimly.

Ezra's voice crackled over the com unit in the dashboard. "Landing to sled-shuttle."

Emily picked up the com mouthpiece and spoke into it. "This is Emily to Landing, reading you loud and clear."

"Progress report. You should be near the _Yoko _by now," said Ezra. There was a brief pause. "And Kimmer here wants to know how the sled-shuttle's handling."

"Handling fine," grunted Paul, and Emily dutifully relayed his words to Landing.

Looking out through the thick atmospheric shield in front of them, she added, "We should be docking at the _Yokohama _in about two minutes. I can just about see it ahead of me."

"Right. Well, while we're, ah... waiting... Basil went back to the infirmary just now, to check on Ongola, you know... and he's just come and told us – Tarvi's not there. His bed's empty." Ezra sounded stressed.

Emily closed her eyes and murmured to herself, "By the suns, please don't let him do something stupid." She switched the com to microphone so that Paul could speak and be heard by those at Landing as well, then in a clearer tone added, "I see your point. He doesn't know Sallah's still alive –"

"– and now we're worried he'll go and do something foolish," Ezra interjected. "He wasn't exactly very _together _the last time I saw him –"

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Keroon," Paul interrupted. "But we're going to dock in about thirty seconds, so –"

"Admiral, I –"

"_Just shut up and let me drive!_" Paul growled, and there was silence from the com while Emily tried to suppress a chuckle.

"Contact Sallah, ask her to open the outer door of the airlock," said Paul tersely to Emily.

Finding the appropriate wavelength, Emily did as she was bid. "Sled-shuttle to _Yokohama_," she said. "Come in Sallah."

"Reading you," came her weary voice.

Emily shot the Admiral a worried look upon hearing Sallah sounding so weak. "We are preparing to dock immediately. Open the outer airlock."

"As requested, Governor," Sallah replied with a hint of her usual playful formality.

They saw the airlock slide open before them. Then Paul guided the sled-shuttle smoothly into the dock as automated clamps sensed the tiny spaceship, detached from the walls and steadied it. Despite being a shell of its former self, the _Yokohama _still had its automated docking systems running in case of an emergency such as the present situation.

The airlock closed behind them and the one in front of them that led to the rest of the ship opened. Sallah's voice came again from over the com, "Right, now how am I getting over there to you?"

"Is there air from where you are to the docks here?" Emily asked hurriedly.

"I don't think so. Avril shut off all the pumps, as far as I know."

Emily pulled a bright orange bundle of material out from under her seat in the cabin, determination set on her face. "Hang on then, Sallah. I'm coming to get you."

* * *

Tarvi – now Telgar – leaned back against the wall, hidden in the shadows behind one of the many buildings at Landing. Not a hundred metres away people were gathered around the bonfire, talking, eating, drinking quikal, laughing and generally going about their lives, Sallah's death already shunted to one side. _How can they just carry on like nothing's wrong? _Even after the riot they'd stirred up when he lit the bonfire, her death was no more than another casualty of the war against Thread, to them. Just another loss.

To him, losing Sallah was so much more than that. Not just a loss – a gaping hole, a near-fatal wound, a tear in the fabric of his universe – never able to heal. _Nothing can bring her back. _Telgar closed his tear-red eyes. _What can I do now? I can't just go on pretending that everything is all right. I just can't... I've got to get away from here. This is no place for me anymore. _And with that thought Telgar ran off, into the shadows and away from Landing.

Mairi Hanrahan watched him go with sad eyes. She considered running after him, asking him where he was going, but she held back. _Let him mourn in peace_, she thought – but just an hour later, she wished she hadn't.

* * *

The tiny sled-shuttle plunged towards Pern at an increasingly dangerous speed, the outer atmospheric shields beginning to overheat and glow red.

"Admiral! We're going too fast! The shields are failing!" Emily cried from the back of the sled-shuttle, where she was sitting with Sallah. Both women were clad in bright orange space suits.

"I know!" he growled back through gritted teeth.

Sallah chuckled weakly, though the sound was almost inaudible over the cacophony of alarms beeping. "Wouldn't that just be perfect," she giggled, "If we were to die anyway after all this."

Looking even more panicked, Emily called out again, "Paul, you'd better do something quick smart – we're losing Sallah here!" Terrified, she looked down at the aerial view of Landing becoming quickly less and less aerial.

"I'm working on it!" he roared over the noise. "The fuel pump's karked it, we've lost radio contact with Landing and the brakes have gone bust – I can barely steer and I can't slow down! If I could just go up a bit, level us out – _aha_!" He cried out in triumph. "Brace yourselves! This is gonna be one hell of a jolt!"

Several huge tents of material ballooned out behind the sled-shuttle, causing the little spacecraft to pull up very suddenly and jerking everyone around violently in their seats. The sled-shuttle was nowhere near under control or even slowing down much, but at that point the brakes and steering reconnected, allowing an exuberant Admiral Benden to wrench it upwards and level it out just before it hit the main building housing Ezra, Basil and Stev Kimmer.

Spinning the sled-shuttle around wildly in the air, Paul managed to miss the next row of buildings by inches, slamming into several trees side-on instead. In doing so, the parachutes attached to the back of the sled-shuttle got tangled up, pulling it to an undignified halt.

Loud whooping and laughing could be heard from the cabin. "That was the best crash landing I've done in my life!" hooted the Admiral, "And I've done a lot of crash landing!"

"Paul," Emily said slowly, "Do you smell… burning?"

He sniffed. "No," he said. "Why?" Just then, flames flared up on the outside of the sled-shuttle. Paul's eyes widened and he yelled, "The residual heat of the shields has set fire to the trees! Any second now it could spread to the engine – get out! Run!"

They all scrambled to get out of the cabin before the fire blocked the exits, but when Sallah got past the doors, she crumpled to the ground. She gasped, "It's my foot – I can't stand! Just go on without me, save yourselves!"

"What, after all the trouble we went to getting you here alive?" Emily cried incredulously. "Fat chance! Come on!" She and Paul seized Sallah and hurried onwards as best they could, supporting her with a shoulder each.

Not ten seconds later there was an ear-shattering explosion and they were all thrown forwards as the tiny sled-shuttle became an enormous fireball behind them.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Sorry it took so long to update – and seeing as no one wants to hear excuses, I won't list any. ;) I'll be going on holidays for a couple of weeks, so no updates for a little while. At least I managed to get this done and posted before I'm going! :D As always, thanks to those who read and review!_


	5. Explanations

_Chapter Five – Explanations_

_**Disclaimer: **__The only things out of all of this that belongs to me is the plot, disclaimers and author's notes. You've been warned. :D_

*

Everyone in Bonfire Square noticed when the sled-shuttle exploded, to put it mildly. Every man, woman and child in the vicinity froze for a scant few seconds as they watched the fireball bloom over the other side of Landing; then stunned silence erupted into chaos.

There were screams of everything from, "We're being bombed!" to, "Thread was just the start! Now we're all going to die!" to, "It's the Nathis all over again!" to the more sensible, "Quick, we've got to put out the fire! Allons-y!"

With people rushing towards the blast, away from it, or just frantically around in no particular direction at all, Mairi Hanrahan was hard-pressed to avoid being trampled and get to the explosion site at the same time. When eventually she managed to get there, albeit somewhat battered by the crowds, she surveyed the damage with a mixture of shock and relief.

She was shocked first and foremost that there had been an explosion at all, and then that it'd been so big! Standing near the edge of the blast zone, Mairi could clearly see that the crater was at least as deep as three grown men standing on each others' shoulders, and as wide as ten lying head to toe across the ground. There were several dozen men running around the crater, trying to extinguish burning trees and debris before the fire spread to any buildings.

And that was what she was relieved about – that the explosion hadn't wrecked any buildings. The crater was conspicuously just clear of the many administrative buildings in the area, the only apparent casualties of the explosion being a few trees that had been uprooted, torn apart and set aflame by the fireball – and there were people working to douse the flames as she stood there.

Then her face turned grim as that line of thought set her to thinking about whether there were any human casualties. _Well_, she thought to herself, _if there are any survivors _– and she cringed internally at the thought of anyone being caught in the explosion – _they'll be in the infirmary by now. They're not here. _Looking to one side, she saw the infirmary and smiled. A lucky miss again.

Hurrying inside, she soon found Basil walking down a hallway, a large medical kit clutched in his arms, and she wasted no time in asking what was going on.

"It's kind of a long story – I'm busy at the moment, can't explain right now – later –" he said distractedly, and he continued down the corridor in a rush. After hesitating briefly, Mairi trotted after him.

Basil jogged down several more corridors before he went into one of the main infirmary wards, Mairi close behind.

Sitting on one of the beds were Admiral Paul Benden and Governor Emily Boll, side by side and apparently not seriously harmed. On the next bed across lay a more bloodied figure, who Basil made a beeline for and immediately busied himself treating. Suddenly Mairi burst out, "Who is that? Is that –"

"–Sallah, yes," the Admiral cut in.

"But – b-but – Tarvi – I mean Telgar – he – he said she was dead!" stammered Mairi in astonishment.

"Not yet, Mairi," rasped Sallah quietly from the bed. "What did you say about Tarvi?"

"He – well, he – after you – I mean –" Mairi said rather incoherently. "He – what I want to know is – how did you survive?"

"Well, it's rather a long story..." began Paul.

"I've got time," Mairi replied faintly.

"Well then," said Emily. "I'm sure you know the circumstances of Sallah's supposed demise. She was stuck in the _Yokohama _bleeding to death and running out of air. After she turned off the com unit in the _Yoko _and we all thought she'd died, Ezra –" she gestured to the heretofore unnoticed balding man leaning against the wall behind Sallah's bed. He half-smiled and Emily went on, "– Ezra took Tarvi to the infirmary – we were all in the interface chamber, you see – Tarvi was quite... um... shocked, the poor man – but then Sallah – who was obviously not dead quite yet – had the idea of using the Admiral's override password to turn the air supply back on – so Paul told us the – incidentally, Paul, _why _did you choose 'Sir Fluffy Pants' as the override password?"

Reddening, Paul muttered, "He was my favourite childhood toy. A fluffy purple rabbit..." His expression grew wistful and Emily snorted whilst the rest of the room muffled their laughter.

"Anyway," continued Emily, "We got the oxygen back on, converted a sled into a sort of semi-shuttle, then Paul and I flew it up to the _Yoko_, I went in and got Sallah, though the lack of air in most parts of the ship posed a temporary problem..." At this point she indicated the bright orange space-suits that both Sallah and herself were wearing, then went on, "Then Paul brought us back down to Pern in the sled-shuttle – expert crash-landing, by the way – and then of course there was yet _another _problem, being that the heat of the sled-shuttle's outer shields set fire to the trees Paul knocked over when he landed, which in turn spread to the engine. It was one helluva explosion, wasn't it?" She grinned, somehow quite happy in remembering the things that had very nearly killed her and others that day. "We only just got clear in time. And that brings us to sitting here, having a chat while Basil fixes Sallah up a bit. So now you know."

Basil, having tended to Sallah for the moment, said to Emily, "Governor, I'm going to have to check you and the Admiral for shock and so on. If you'll just hold your arm out, like so..." Emily protested loudly and Mairi just stood, taking everything in in stunned silence.

Once the ruckus had died down somewhat and Emily had submitted to Basil putting a cuff on her arm, Sallah croaked, "Mairi, what did you say about Tarvi? Where is he?"

Paul, Emily and Ezra shot each other worried looks. Mairi looked equally worried as she said, "He came to Bonfire Square and asked to light the bonfire. No people of authority could be found – obviously, you were out in space – so we said he could do it. So then he gave a sort of... speech, and... well, he... renamed himself Telgar in your memory, Sallah. He had everyone all stirred up; and everything..." She looked around hopelessly.

Sallah, looking struck by her husband's devotion, said only, "Oh..."

Paul, who was now being fussed over by Basil, hazarded, "The thing is... wedon't know where he is. As Emily said, Ezra brought him to the infirmary. Basil gave him some mild sedatives, but –"

"–when I went to check on Ongola, Tarvi's bed was empty," finished Basil. "He must have gone to Bonfire Square, but where after that?"

Mairi, her eyes wide, whispered something.

"What, Mairi?" demanded Ezra, the only one who noticed.

She turned to look at him, eyes wide. Suddenly she had everyone's undivided attention. "I saw him go," she said. "I saw him run off after he lit the bonfire. He looked so... sad, devastated, that I thought... he deserved some time to himself. I don't know where he's gone, or if..." She gulped. "I don't even know if he intended to come back."

* * *

_**Author's note: **__Another chapter... *cheering* And with it, my first – pathetic – attempt at a cliff-hanger. ;D I wanted to write more in this chapter, but it got too long. :/ Did anyone pick up the Doctor Who reference in this chapter? There was another, more obvious one in chapter two. (I'm a huge fan - can't resist the odd reference to the best sci-fi TV show ever.) Thanks as always to my dutiful reviewers! You're one of the things that keep me writing! :D_


	6. The Rain Only Washes Away the Blood

Chapter Six – The Rain Can't Wash Away the Pain

*

_**Disclaimer: **__I know that my disclaimers are never interesting. Author's notes are for random ranting on. All I want to get across is this: __I do not own. Simple. :D_

Tears still coursing down his face, Telgar lurched over the uneven volcanic landscape, heading away from Landing. Except for the sounds of his quiet, heartbroken sobbing and the clatter of stones when he stumbled, there was silence in the night.

After struggling onwards for about an hour, he tripped over yet another inconveniently placed rock and stayed down, cut, bruised and battered both inside and out. It all felt so hopeless. For a while he just lay where he had fallen, bleeding and weeping. _There's no point to any of it anymore... anything I do from now on is just a futile attempt to escape feeling this pain. It won't work. _He groaned aloud. _Love, life, meaning... over. _He rolled over and stared at the night sky; there were clouds starting to mass overhead.

Telgar cursed Pern, cursed the planet to which he had come, found love and lost it all – at the same time realising how much it actually meant to him. And now it was too late.

He wanted to howl his misery at the night sky. Instead, he stood up and plodded on, more slowly than before. So much had happened today, in less than twenty-four hours. He remembered waking up early that morning when Sallah had still been asleep… It seemed like years ago that he'd walked away from his wife's slumbering form to pursue his other love – his work – not knowing that he'd never see the former again. Ever.

It was taking its toll on him.

He'd been up before dawn that morning, worked all day with nought to eat but breakfast, then suffered the upheaval of all that had happened in the interface chamber – but he refused to dwell on that – after which he'd been sedated for hours. And now he was running away, cutting himself up on the rocks.

After all that, he was simply buggered. He stumbled and fell again in the darkness, and quite suddenly it was all too much. It took the very last of his strength to drag himself a few metres further until he came to rest under the eaves of some nearby shrubbery. With that, he gratefully collapsed into unconsciousness, the remainder of the sedatives in his bloodstream ensuring a deep and dreamless stupor.

Only minutes later, the sled-shuttle exploded in Landing – but Telgar barely twitched in his sleep.

Later still that night, as he lay unconscious in the Pernese wilderness and his wife was sleeping in the infirmary, the heavens opened and rain pounded relentlessly down over the continent, the downpour washing away the footprints in the dirt and the blood on the stones.

Eliminating all traces that Telgar had ever been there.

* * *

"The dragonets still haven't found anything, and they've been everywhere within a ten-klick radius of Landing. It seems like he's just disappeared off the face of the planet," said Paul helplessly.

Sallah did not take to the news kindly, and her response was much the same as it had been for the past week. "How can he have _disappeared_? He simply can'thave – it's not possible! Tarvi's gotto be somewhere – the dragonets just haven't been searching properly. Oh, _why _won't they let me _out _of here already?" she raged from the confines of her infirmary bed.

"Sallah, be reasonable. You've had reconstructive surgery to your hand and leg, and artificial pseudo-skin implanted in both places – although that speeds up the healing process, you can't expect to be out after one night." Sallah started spluttering angrily and he spoke over the top of her. "It's up to Basil to decide when you're sufficiently recovered to be released." His face softened. "You lost a lot of blood, you know. You need _time _to recover and –"

Basil chose that moment to enter brandishing a clipboard, stopping Paul from pronouncing whatever he was going to say next. "Morning, Admiral, Sallah," he said cheerily, beginning to unwind the bindings on Sallah's leg as he spoke. "If this is healed up like it ought to be, you'll be free to go later today, Sallah. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine!" she exclaimed. "Can't I go _now_?"

Basil smiled kindheartedly at her. "Your foot looks pretty good, the skin's healed over nicely – you're lucky that you didn't damage any bones in your heel or you'd still be here in a month's time. Now, just walk around a bit for me so that I can see if you're well enough to go. No buts," he added, seeing the expression on her face. "Up you get."

Sallah leapt out of bed straight away, but she had to be careful not to wince when she put too much pressure on her newly healed foot. Although she tried her best to walk normally she couldn't help limping slightly.

Watching her with critical eyes, Basil made her sit down before winding a pressure bandage around her ankle. "You might have just strained something minor, but it should heal up soon enough if you go easy on it," he told her. "Try again. Better?"

Sallah soon found that she could walk around the room without any discomfort, and she smiled. "Entirely! So can I go now?"

Basil nodded his approval as Paul asked, "Why're you so eager to be off, Sallah? What were you planning to do?" He sounded suspicious.

"I'm not entirely sure. I think I'll go talk to the people in charge of the search party, maybe see if I can help or be useful somehow." She was nearly at the door.

Paul cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Um, well, um... about that," he mumbled.

"What?" Sallah barked.

"Well, you have to understand that the search team and their dragonets have been going all out for the past week; there's not a rock been left unturned, not a piece of Pern left uncombed for any sign of Tarvi. Not even a footprint, a broken off branch or a rock out of place, nothing to indicate that someone's been past. The rain wouldn't have helped, at that. The people have been everywhere; the dragonets have been everywhere, all working their hearts out. But after all they've done – still nothing."

Sallah interrupted his speech with, "What about sleds? Hasn't anyone thought of that? He could have taken one from anywhere near here!"

"Of course they have! The very first thing that got checked was the sled bay, and not one sled was missing. We've exhausted our resources, Sallah," he said. "And... and now... they're calling off the search. Today. Tarvi will come home at some point, I'm sure… when he feels up to it..." His voice trailed off feebly.

Sallah was standing as though frozen, staring disbelievingly at the Admiral. She soon found her voice back, though. "_WHAT_?! What do you mean, calling off the search? What do you mean, he'll show up at some point? He could be injured, Threadscored, or dead! How can you say this?" she shrieked.

"It's – it's not up to me, Sallah. I'm not in charge – I'm not sure there's even a designated leader of the search. Everything's in a bit of a shambles, really, what with everything that's going on."

"That's not good enough, _Benden_! My husband is out there! He must think I'm dead, and I don't even know whether he is or not! How can you call it off when Tarvi's helpless and alone out there, at the mercy of Thread and whatever else!? How can you?"

"For the last time, I'm not in charge! If you must, talk to the people doing the s—" He stopped himself, exchanging a look with Basil that clearly said, _Best if she doesn't_. "I can't help you," he finished weakly.

"Fine!" screamed Sallah, storming towards the door. She was pleased to find that even stomping across the room in her haste her foot didn't hurt. She paused in the doorframe and said, "If no-one else cares enough to do it, I'll look for him myself!"

And with that, she bolted out of the building before anyone could stop her.

_**Author's note and Disclaimer the Second: **__I can't apologise enough for this grievous lack of updates for the past... what? Era? I am _really _sorry. Really. Sometimes updates may be slow in coming (I do sort of have a life outside fanfiction), but I _will _get this done so don't give up on me! =O I also want to point out that the phrase 'Love, life, meaning... over' is from _New Moon _by the one and only Stephenie Meyer, and that I have shamelessly inserted that without permission, etc. Me no own – don't sue! _^_^ _That said, please review now! :D Maybe that way I'll get the next chapter up sooner!_


	7. An Unexpected Peril

Chapter Seven – An Unexpected Peril

*

_**Disclaimer: **__Don't own this stuff. But you knew that._ _And I know what you're all thinking. _'An UPDATE? You can't be serious!' _Well, yeah. Sorry it's taken me so long, I hope you like it, anyway!_

_*_

_Maybe I should have thought this through earlier_, thought a weary Sallah for the umpteenth time since she'd set out, glancing ruefully at the now-empty water container she still held in one hand. _A tiny bit more planning wouldn't have hurt_, she reflected. _I could have taken a dragonet to help me search. And food, more water, a hat... After all, I can't find Tarvi if I'm lying unconscious somewhere..._

She shook those thoughts away fiercely. _Negativity won't help him either! I'm not that tired or hungry or thirsty... well... it'd probably be a good thing if I found some water soon, actually._

It was only the second day of her impromptu solo search mission, and already she was feeling the stress of it, both physical and emotional. For one, she couldn't deny that her newly healed left foot was taking a beating. It throbbed – only slightly, she told herself – with every step, and she made a mental note to find herself a suitable walking stick as soon as she could. And she could only hope that the pressure bandage Basil had wound around her foot didn't wear out; she didn't have any others. She made another mental note to stop thinking about it, full stop, but of course that didn't help either.

She certainly wasn't that young anymore and hardly in any shape for prolonged strenuous hiking. _I'm an old woman... too old for this, anyway. But since no-one else is going to get my husband back, it's up to me – and I won't stop until I find him!_

Also wearing her down were her constant worries, fears and nightmares doing energetic cartwheels in her head. Her overactive imagination kept conjuring up vivid scenarios, what could happen to Tarvi, what might already have happened. Her own plight seemed insignificant in comparison with his.

In her mind's eye she saw his starved body lying in some unknown, wild part of Pern, cold, still and lifeless, just waiting for the tunnel snakes or the stars only know what else to come and tear his miserable corpse apart.

But of course if Thread had got him there'd be nothing left, not so much as a bloodstain. Although, now that she really thought about it – something she'd been trying to avoid doing thus far – his heavy metal wristwatch would be impervious to the menace of Thread. It was a fairly ancient family heirloom, and Sallah knew that Tarvi almost always wore it on his person. _Well, at least that's something to look out for_, she thought grimly. _If worst comes to worst._

Apart from the glint of metal – a sure sign that the worst had happened – she really didn't know what to look for as she travelled. _Footprints?_ Most of those would have been erased by the elements by now, but that didn't stop her from looking in vain. She snorted. _I'm hardly a practiced tracker. Or even a tracker at all. _If the truth be told, she knew nothing whatsoever of these things apart from what she'd read in books, and even that was precious little.

The whole situation was pretty hopeless. And yet, despite the bleakness of it all, never once did she consider giving up. Finding her husband was her mission, and she was going through with it.

The daylight was fading by this time, and Sallah headed towards a prominent outcropping of stone with a gap underneath it big enough for her to shelter in. She sat down there, feeling much more vulnerable than she was used to, but not too bad under the circumstances. _Thread can't eat though solid rock, after all._

Though she hated being unaware of whether Thread was on the way or not, that fact was made somewhat more bearable by the shelter that the rocky landscape had – so far – amply provided. Things would get a lot more... interesting... once she got further inland to where the planet was greener.

Her stomach growled audibly and she sighed. She'd have to try to find something to eat in the morning, something more filling than the meagre amount she'd found since setting out. It was a good thing she'd paid attention in briefing, and at 'school' when Pern was first settled almost a decade ago. She knew which fruits, leaf vegetables and tubers she could safely eat and which ones to stay away from. However, she hadn't seen anything edible other than those delicious black berries so far, and even they were on the 'consume in moderation only' list, meaning that even if she found more of those, she'd have to leave them be or she could expect some unpleasant symptoms.

"I _must_ find water soon, though. Tomorrow. How hard can it be?" she said aloud to herself. Then she chuckled. "Famous last words," she added, and then tried not to dwell on that as she tried, fruitlessly, to arrange herself in a position comfortable enough to sleep in.

* * *

She did eventually find water the next day, along with a considerable amount of greyish tubers she knew to be safe to eat, if somewhat bland – though she was hungry enough for the sight of them to make her mouth water. Once she'd eaten her fill, she uprooted all that she could find and carried them with her in a makeshift bowl constructed of a large waterside frond she'd plucked along with the rest. The amount of readily available food seemed to increase as she went, along with the amount of vegetation.

She fell into a pattern after a week or so. She'd get up in the morning from beneath whichever rock she'd spent the night under, trek all day, consuming what edible greens she could find as she went – regrettably she didn't have anything to make a fire with and she couldn't catch any meat anyway – and then she'd crawl underneath a new rock to spend another cold night. There was never any sign that Tarvi might have been there, so still she walked onwards.

Then after two weeks of relative sameness day in and day out, the monotony was broken.

* * *

_Day fifteen_, thought Sallah, _and still no sign of Tarvi. Or anyone else. _She sighed. _I seem to do a lot of sighing nowadays... at least I haven't encountered any Thread yet. That's something._

She stepped out of the shallow pool of water she'd been swimming in fully clothed. She wrung her hair out and picked up her walking stick, prepared for another long day of hiking in no particular direction at all. The water would evaporate from her clothes as she walked during the day, keeping her cool on top of less smelly.

She set out. After hiking for about half an hour she began to whistle, beginning to enjoy the clear morning despite the lack of progress in her mission. Then quite suddenly she heard something that stopped her in her tracks, the next note sticking in her throat.

She turned towards the noise, all the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. _What was that? _She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. She turned back in the direction she'd been heading, but then it came a second time.

A low, guttural rumbling that made every muscle freeze in fear. She whirled around again. "Wh-who's there?" she stuttered in fright.

All of a sudden the bushes in front of her moved, leaves shifting to reveal a pair of glowing yellow eyes with slits for pupils, looking right at her. There was something menacing and definitely not human about the way those narrowed eyes stared her down.

Like whatever the eyes belonged to was a predator. And she was its prey.

It growled again.


	8. Running

_Chapter Eight – Running_

_**Disclaimer: **__Unfortunately, I wasn't off acquiring the rights to the Dragonriders of Pern series while I was on hiatus; I was working. :'( So as I still don't own it, let the story (finally) continue..._

*

Sallah ran.

It was not a conscious decision. One second she'd been completely frozen, unable to move even if she'd wanted to; the next she'd dropped her makeshift walking stick and her bundles of food, and probably broken the land speed record in her adrenaline-fuelled haste to get the feck outta there. By now she'd left the creature-infested bushes well and truly behind – which would have been perfect had said creatures remained in said bushes.

They hadn't.

Pursuing her effortlessly on padded feet, she could hear at least half a dozen of the monstrous beasts with glowing yellow eyes – when and how the fekking things had multiplied was beyond her – racing along behind her. She was sure she'd never run faster in her life – but the creatures didn't seem to be exerting any effort at all. It was like they weren't even trying, as though they had deliberately not pounced as soon as she was within reach. She was sure that they could have knocked her down and ripped her to shreds long before now, so why hadn't they?

Despite _their_ seemingly effortless gait, Sallah was struggling to stay ahead of them; her legs simply could not take her any faster and her foot was a throbbing agony. Her breath tore raggedly in and out through her throat, but there seemed to be no oxygen in it, and each successive pant was shorter than the last. Desperately she ran onwards, trying to ignore the pain and stay ahead, somehow.

She knew it was futile when a dark shape appeared in her peripheral vision. _They're closing in on me_, she realised. _They're coming for the kill_.Nevertheless, she rocketed up another damned hill even as black spots began to encroach on her sight.

Abruptly, her foot gave way. A stabbing pain shot up her ankle as her legs collapsed beneath her and she folded like a much-abused pack of cards. The creature running behind her leapt over her as she fell, landing in front of her crumpled form and rounding on her, all within the space of a second.

Quite suddenly Sallah found herself sprawled on the ground, gasping frantically for breath, injured and helpless to escape from the monstrous things that surrounded her on all sides, her leg wracked by great stabs of pain. Staring around herself in horror she saw two giant beasts – only _two_? She was sure there'd been a whole pack of them on her heels just a moment before – beginning to circle slowly around her, growling all the while.

Despite the oxygen-starved haze over her vision, enough adrenaline was pumping through her battered body that she could clearly see every detail of the _thing _crouched in front of her.

One was bigger than the other, but both were lean, muscled and covered in black spots on orange-y fur. They were clearly designed for speed – for hunting – with small heads and large torsos, their limbs rippling with muscles. _They're definitely feline; big long whiskers and everything_, thought Sallah detachedly. _And insanely, they look familiar – like I should know what they are. _Their eyes weren't so much glowing yellow as vibrant gold, she saw now. Still, that didn't make them any less terrifying – she was horror-struck by the fact that she was close enough to notice things like eye colour. And still they paced slowly around her, all the while snarling and growling, baring their yellowed – but oh-so-sharp – teeth at her and flicking their long, spotted tails from side to side.

_I never expected to die like this_, she thought. _Please just let it be quick_. She squeezed her eyes tight shut and waited to be torn apart. The growling escalated until it was all she could hear; her heart was in her throat and she drew in great, quick lungfuls of air, thinking with each second that it might be her last...

The growling stopped.

She opened her eyes and looked up. The two huge cats had stopped in their tracks and were looking towards a fringe of trees to one side. The ear of the beast nearest to Sallah twitched, and it seemed for a second as though it was listening to something only it could hear. Another moment of apparent indecision passed, and then they were gone from her side, bolting for the trees. Another second later they were out of sight.

Sallah sat up, disbelieving and her head spinning. _Whatinhell is going on? What was that? Like a signal or something? I don't understand; both of them are gone – just like that. What...? _Then she resolved to stop trying to make sense of it all and just get away from there in case they came back. _I'll figure it out later._

But as soon as she moved to try to get up, a big jolt of pain came from her ankle. She groaned and turned to inspect the damage. Her ankle looked swollen and the now worn pressure bandage Basil had bound it with just over a fortnight ago had come loose and was trailing over the ground – it was a wonder she hadn't tripped over it. Quickly, she rewound it as best she could and tried to get up again, but found that she couldn't put any weight on her left foot. Clearly, she was no medic.

She cussed and crawled her way to the nearest fringe of trees – in the opposite direction to the one the cats had run off into. After a few minutes, she found another long, sturdy stick to replace the one she'd dropped back at the start of the chase. With the aid of her makeshift crutch she managed to get up and start hobbling onwards, hoping to get to a safer place before nightfall.

_**Author's note: **__Well, I'm back from hiatus (sorry it took so long, _really_) and only two more chapters before this fic is done, people! So, please leave a review. I love 'em. :)_


	9. Look to the Skies

_Chapter Nine – Look to the Skies_

_**Disclaimer: **__It doesn't belong to me. No, really, it doesn't. I'm serious. You don't believe me? Fine. Just don't sue! XP_

*

_When will I ever see Tarvi again? _thought Sallah. _It's been so long... anything could have happened. _It had been days since the beasts had ambushed her, and she still couldn't shake the niggling feeling that they were still out there somewhere, hunting for her. Or the feeling that she should know what they were.

Over the course of the past few days she'd walked on, much as she had before, but at a much slower and more painful pace. And she had nothing to occupy her mind with but thoughts of Tarvi, the pain, and those freakish cats. However much she looked, though, she never saw anything but trees and scrub and rocks – until the third day after the attack.

* * *

She was walking with her head down, chewing on a tuber she'd just pulled up when a movement somewhere in front of her made her look up sharply. There, standing on a rock and silhouetted in the morning sun, stood a young girl; she couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen at most. Her brownish-blonde hair hung just past her shoulders, and she wore brown pants and a yellow t-shirt with a picture and some writing on it. Her slender – and oddly clad – form looked distinctly out of place in the middle of the Pernese wilderness. Coming closer, she appraised Sallah with bluish-green eyes, taking in her ragged appearance and radiating... well, _out-of-place-ness_. She clearly didn't belong here, but that didn't make any sense...

The girl spoke. "Um, hello. Have you seen my friend? He's about this tall, and wears a suit. A blue one."

Sallah found her voice and replied, "No, I haven't seen anyone for weeks."

The girl raised one eyebrow slightly, as if to say, _I can tell_. "What about... a blue box?"

Utterly perplexed, Sallah said, "I haven't... but I'm looking for someone too. Have you seen anyone?"

The girl looked thoughtful for a second, then said, "I'm pretty sure we did see someone a day or so ago, up further that way." She gestured behind herself.

Sallah, her heart suddenly pounding, blurted, "Did you see what he looked like?"

Sallah's face fell when the girl shook her head. "He disappeared as soon as we realised he was there. What's your name, anyway?"

"My name's Sallah Telgar-Andiyar. What's yours?"

"I'm Ruby. Are you headed that way?" She pointed in the direction Sallah had just come, and Sallah shook her head. "Well, I am, so... see you round," she said, and started walking.

"Wait!" called Sallah. "Don't – there are some sort of... giant cat creature things that attacked me back there. Unless you've got a weapon or something..." She trailed off, suddenly hoping that this Ruby girl was as harmless as she looked.

Ruby turned around, looking sceptical. "Are you sure? I didn't know there were wild cats on this planet."

"Neither did I, up until three days ago. They almost killed me!" Ruby looked unsure and Sallah finally asked, "Forgive me for asking, but... where're you from?"

Ruby smiled. "A _long _way away. But I've really got to get going. Thanks for the advice though." She turned and walked on again, but in a slightly different direction this time, Sallah noticed. She also noticed what was on her shirt. It was a picture of a lemon cut in half lying on a stretcher, with the caption, 'Lemon Aid'. Sallah frowned in confusion as she watched Ruby disappear through the bushes to one side of her. _Well, even if she's weird, she's not stupid. Blue box, indeed..._

She turned and trudged onwards yet again, but more happily than before. Thanks to Ruby, she now had a direction!

* * *

Two days later she was beginning to doubt the truth of Ruby's words. How could she even be sure she'd seen anyone? Even if she had, it might not have been Tarvi – yet who else would be out, unprotected and alone, in the wild? Ruby hadn't said if she'd seen more than one person. She could have given more specific directions..._ But this is getting me nowhere._

Sallah sighed. Her foot still hurt like anything when she tried to put weight on it, she was tired and her back hurt from sleeping on rocks every night._ Anyone else would go home at this point... but I don't even know in which direction home _is_. And I can't stop until I've found Tarvi. I just can't, even if it takes me a year. _A tiny voice in the back of her mind told her that Tarvi probably wouldn't survive a year in the wilderness, and neither would she. _I'd probably be dead of exhaustion or mauled by one of those things long before then. What _were _they? Think – orange, black spots, runs insanely fast... _And then it came to her. _Cheetahs! They were exactly like old First Earth cheetahs!_

She was so preoccupied with having finally put the name to the cheetahs that at first she didn't notice the sound. But soon enough she heard it, coming from some distance away – a very faint hissing, carried on the wind in her direction, and getting closer by the second. It took her a few seconds to figure it out. Her head snapped upward and her eyes confirmed her suspicion.

"Thread," she breathed. "Oh, _shit_!" Clutching at her makeshift crutch, she started to limp as fast as she could away from the oncoming cloud of Thread – fortunately the same direction as she'd been heading in the first place. Every hurried step jolted her sore ankle, making her grit her teeth in pain, but she only struggled on faster. As she ran she looked desperately around for one of those convenient outcroppings of rocks to hide under, but saw only trees and pebbles.

She looked behind her, up at the sky, and saw the terrible black shape of the Threads coming slowly – and yet much too quickly – her way. She looked in vain for the tiny dark forms of the sleds flying in a pattern along the leading edge of the mass, but all she could see was that it was a heavy Fall. She estimated that she had just over five minutes before the cloud would be over the top of her.

For a fleeting second she thought of the girl, Ruby, and hoped that she was safe somewhere. _It's too late for me now_, she realised. Though it was only causing her more pain to keep hobbling on, she couldn't stop, wouldn't give up, just had to keep going.

It would take nothing short of a miracle for her to survive, she knew that. But still she went on.

* * *

_**Author's note: **__Well, the thing is, I'm kind of struggling to make sure that I sum everything up in the last chapter, which in the process of being written. So, please review and leave me all the questions that you want answered, and I'll make sure I put them in chapter 10. I don't want to miss anything. :)_


	10. At Last

_Chapter Ten – At Last_

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own the Dragonriders of Pern series. Well, I did buy _Dragonsdawn_ and got _Dragonflight_ as a present, but that's really irrelevant..._

*

The hiss of Thread consuming vegetation became louder as leading edge drew closer, and Sallah knew the end was near. _I wonder how far I've travelled_, she thought dimly. _I must have gone very far if there're no sled crews out fighting this Fall. _Gasping for breath, she looked up at the encroaching cloud in the sky as she passed through a fringe of trees. _I should have known it'd end like this when I first set out. All of that surviving has only lead to this... a worse death. _Silently cursing her sore foot and the rocky ground that was only making things more difficult, she looked back down.

The ground had disappeared.

Her wide eyes glimpsed a vista of a stony valley and a river winding terrifyingly far below before she felt herself falling, falling, falling...

She squeezed her eyes tight shut in terror. She bounced, once, twice, and then she was rolling down a steep cliff, flying over every painful bump blurrily fast... before eventually coming to a dizzy halt.

Winded and her head whirling, she tried to gulp in air, wincing as she did so. Breathing _hurt_. She fervently hoped that she hadn't broken any ribs. Sallah looked dizzily around and found herself resting on the edge of a fairly wide ledge. The valley below her swam before her eyes and she scrabbled backwards. A few seconds later the world had stopped spinning – mostly – and she looked up at the sheer slope she'd tumbled down. Topped by a fringe of trees, it had to be over ten metres high. She swore, knowing that she was lucky to be alive.

Then the shadow of Thread appeared over the top of the bluff and she decided she'd rather stay that way. She struggled to her feet, but as she stared into the chasm below her she realised that shehad_ nowhere to go_. She turned around, prepared to face her death – and gaped at what she saw in front of her.

It was the mouth of a cave.

The hissing got abruptly louder and she glanced up; Thread was making short work of the trees at the top of the slope. And that meant she only had seconds.

Gritting her teeth against the pain and without her walking stick to aid her, she limped as quickly as she could into the cave. The moment she made it inside she sighed and let cool relief wash over her. _I'm safe. I'm alive. I got away. _She looked back over her shoulder and saw the first Threads falling onto the ledge and down into the valley. Disgusted, she turned away again.

It was cool and dark inside the cave. Not wanting to stay near the Threads, Sallah walked slowly and unevenly forward... and fell down. Cursing quietly and aching all over she sat where she had fallen. Looking behind her, there was enough light coming from the mouth of the cave for her to see what she'd tripped over – the remains of a campfire. _But that doesn't make any sense_, she thought. She looked forward into the darkness of the cave with ever-adjusting eyes, and was struck by an odd feeling. _The outline of that rock looks familiar somehow..._

Then recognition dawned, and tears along with it.

_This is _our _cave. The one we explored together all those years ago. _She got up and limped slowly further, bittersweet memories threatening to overwhelm her. _This is where we spent the night... together... for the first time... I'd give anything to see him again. Even just to know he's safe. _Suddenly a wave of melancholy swept over her, bringing a new wave of tears. _It's hopeless. How did I ever convince myself I could find him out here?_

She sobbed out loud. "Oh, Tarvi..."

There was a sudden scraping sound from the back of the cave, the normally quiet sound of stone on stone magnified and echoing throughout the cavernous space.

_What was that? _Sallah was instantly alert for more danger. _Probably just a bat or a wherry or a tunnel snake..._

She gulped as she realised that whatever it was would know for sure that she was in their cavern by now – she'd made plenty of noise since she'd come in. And on top of that, she was still as good as night-blind in the dimness; if whatever it was decided to jump her, she wouldn't be able to see it coming.

As she squinted into the darkness, she thought she could see something glowing and coming slowly closer. Icy fear gripped her heart. _Please let it not be one of those cheetahs. _Could the light be the reflective glow of its eyes? _Please, no, not after all this..._

It was only a few metres away when she heard it speak, almost as if to itself. Something like, "...imagining things again..."

Sallah thought that _she _must be imagining things. Cats were not capable of speech, and there was something oddly familiar about that voice...

It spoke again, hoarse and desperate, louder this time. "Sallah?"

_How does it know my name? _she wondered. Then the light dropped to the floor and scattered; it looked like a pile of glowing worms. Blinking, she was able to better make out the figure in front of her.

"Sallah? It can't be you..."

And then she realised.

"_Tarvi?"_

A single second of silence passed, and then lean, strong arms surrounded her and she knew that she was safe. It no longer mattered that she was bruised, dirty, bone-tired and sore; it seemed as though all her hurts had been driven away. Her relief and joy went beyond coherent thought; she'd never been so happy in her life. After everything she'd been through, from floating above the planet to trekking painfully over it... everything had been worth it, in the end.

She couldn't summon any words at that moment to express how her heart was overflowing, so she just repeated the most important ones over and over again as the tears streaked down her cheeks. "Tarvi, Tarvi, oh Tarvi... my Tarvi..."

To him it was almost as though someone had taken a large stick and clubbed him upside the back of the head with it – but in a good way. He was reeling, dazed by the blow, the tears streaming down his face, but it was the best thing that had happened to him in a very long time.

It was as if he had grown used to the great, gaping hole in his heart, his universe... like that chasm had shrunk over time, though never becoming less painful. He'd thought that he'd never feel whole again... but now that the abyss in his heart had been filled in, it felt like he was bursting. And he'd never been happier.

At first he'd been convinced that he'd finally cracked, that his mind was playing cruel tricks on him, but to deny the existence of the woman in his arms now would be insane. Somehow, he knew this was real. _After all this time, everything has finally turned out all right._

But he had so many questions to ask...

After he'd left Landing, he had walked aimlessly over the surface of Pern in despair for what felt like centuries, before he'd reached their cave. When he'd realised what he'd stumbled upon, the memories and the accompanying anguish had been crippling... yet he'd stayed, living in the grotto with his painful recollections, alone. Wallowing in his grief, one might say. Dwelling on the things that had, should have or could have happened...

The giant emptiness all around him had mirrored how he'd felt inside, and he hadn't had the strength to keep moving. Where would he have gone, after all? He had discovered many things while he'd been playing the hermit, like the extent of the caverns, strange sand that could be used as soap, and the glow worms. He'd been insensible of the worth his discoveries, and uncaring as to his surroundings... until he'd heard someone crashing into the cave.

He had so much to tell, and the innumerable questions that Sallah's reappearance had raised needed to be answered too. But his story and his questions could wait until much later; for now he was more than content just to stand there, holding his wife once more.

Truly happy again, at last.

_**Author's Note: **__*smiles gleefully* So, we have our happy reunion at last (sorry for the long gaps between updates – holiday season and all). Now, I know I said this'd be the last chapter, but I also know I've left some things unexplained. Who votes for the short, explanatory epilogue? :)_


	11. Chapter 11: Epilogue

_Chapter Eleven – Epilogue_

_**Disclaimer: **__Yes, I actually _do_ own Dragonsdawn! Just not the copyrights to it..._

*

They sat near the mouth of the cavern, talking, as the afternoon sunlight turned into dusk and dusk turned into night. Still they talked, the now clear, starry skies looking down on them and their cave, the perfect backdrop for a reunion.

The morning found them sleepily entwined in Tarvi's makeshift bed in one of the back chambers of the cave, where it was warmest. Sallah was almost too stiff and sore to move, bruised all over from her escapades the day before.

"Come on, love. Time to get up," her husband's voice whispered in her ear. "We'll miss the sleds otherwise."

"Sleds?"

"Keep in mind that I've been here for close to three weeks. Thread's fallen here I think twice in that time, and the sleds usually come for a visit soon after the fall. Since they didn't come last night I think we can assume they'll show up this morning... for some reason they're never here actually fighting Thread when it falls," Tarvi explained.

Sitting up slowly, Sallah guessed, "Maybe there's no-one living around here, and they only fly over for a spot check or something." Wincing, she got up, taking Tarvi's arm for support. "And I suppose you want to hitch a lift with them back to Landing?"

"Yes," he replied simply, then adding with a smile, "Unless you want to do some more hiking." He led her out onto the ledge overlooking the valley. "We should be able to see them coming from here and get their attention... maybe we should light something on fire to make a beacon."

"No need, I think," she said, pointing. "That's got to be them, there, and it seems they've already spotted us."

He looked in the direction she indicated, and raised his arm to wave at them. A minute later one of the sleds landed on the ledge, the others flying on. A man and a woman stepped out onto the ledge, the man exclaiming, "By the suns, am I glad to see you two!"

"And we you, Admiral, Governor," said Tarvi respectfully. "Would you happen to have room for an extra two passengers?"

"Jump aboard!" said Paul.

"Well, I'm not sure I'm capable of jumping, Admiral," smiled Sallah as she was half carried on by Tarvi.

Emily shook her head and followed the others on board. "You have no idea how worried we've all been about you... and not entirely without foundation, I see. We'll get Basil to patch you up properly – again – once we get back to Landing, but for now I'm afraid you'll have to make do with the med kit. It's quite a sled trip to the nearest medical facility."

"We must have gone further than I thought, then," mused Sallah while Tarvi went looking for the med kit.

"Oh yes," said Paul from the sled controls. "You both travelled further than we guessed. I believe we're close to Calusa at the moment – it's just a few klicks off."

"_Calusa?_" Tarvi said incredulously, pausing in his search. "The Tubbermans' place? We _have _gone far."

Emily unearthed the med kit and gave it to him. "Not much left of the Tubbermans' house, actually." She shook her head. "Those big cats of Ted's tore it apart."

Sallah stared at Emily. "_Big cats!?_ What did they look like?"

* * *

Several hours and a lot of talking later, the sled cruised in to Landing, Paul parking it neatly outside the infirmary. To both Sallah and Tarvi's great surprise, there was a small crowd there waiting for them. "I radioed ahead," explained Emily quickly.

As soon as Tarvi helped Sallah out of the sled, they were surrounded by people. Mairi was there with Cara on her arm and the other three children gathered around her. Ezra and Basil were there too, standing back a little. Tarvi knelt down immediately and his two sons leapt into his arms.

Sallah, though unable to bend down, was not to be distanced from her children either. Leaning against the sled for support, she very carefully took the sleeping Cara from Mairi's arms while Mairi gently coaxed Dena from behind her skirts and picked her up. Sallah knew she'd have a proper reunion with all of her family later, when she'd been 'patched up' by Basil; for now, though, simply holding her baby daughter and having her other children close was enough.

It hadn't really sunk in to the two reunited lovers until that moment that all the time they'd spent looking for each other, their children had been waiting for their to parents to return home. Of course Sallah and Tarvi had known that they were leaving their children – albeit in Mairi's capable hands – but they hadn't known they'd be gone for so long, or how their absence would affect them. The four kids were too young to understand that their parents might have died, but that wouldn't have made the past month any less awful for them. It must have been as horrible a time for them as it had been for Tarvi and Sallah – in a different way, of course, but unpleasant nevertheless.

Realising this as he held his two oldest offspring close, Tarvi spoke to them through his tears. "I'm so sorry I left you, Ram, Ben. I never meant to hurt you, but I know I have. I'm sorry, so sorry." He looked his sons in their faces. "I will never leave you like that again, I promise. I love you both, so much. I'm sorry."

Sniffling, Ram – the eldest at nearly eight years old – looked up at his father and said quietly, "It's okay now you're back, Dad."

Tarvi hugged them tighter, a fresh wave of tears threatening to overwhelm him. "That's right, son. It's all going to be okay now."

* * *

Looking back, both Sallah and Tarvi saw that month as the hardest of their lives. Even fighting in the wars almost paled in comparison to the emotional turmoil and desperate peril they'd gone through to find each other... and nothing compared to the joy they felt now that it was over, and they were all together again, as a family. Despite everything that'd happened, it had all been worth it.

Apart from a few changes for the better, everything went more or less back to normal. (_And no more 'dawn attacks',_ thought Sallah happily.) Sallah's leg healed very well under Basil's ministrations, though sprinting at full speed still brought on some twinges. _Luckily I don't have any cause to do that anymore,_ she thought. There was one change she still wasn't quite used to, though, even after all these months.

Every time someone called for her husband, she'd look up, thinking they were talking to her. _Silly, melodramatic man_, she'd think. _Only you would change your name to Telgar in my memory, for me. _But then she'd smile, knowing he meant it as a gesture of love, something showing that what had happened to them would never be forgotten.

And it was true – by those involved from Landing, their family long into the future, and both Telgars... it never would be.

* * *

_**Final Author's Note: **__Well, that's it. *sniffs* My first multi-chapter fanfic, finished. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who's been reading the story, _especially_ those who've been reviewing. You guys are awesome! :D Keep your eyeballs peeled, I think I might try a multi-chapter Doctor Who or Harry Potter fic next... and there's another Dragonriders of Pern idea brewing, too... :)_


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